Monthly Archives: July 2017

[Comments partly derived from 2009 TPH]. I love words. I love their rhythm, their music, how they evolve, how they feel in my mouth. I occasionally make a point of memorizing bits of text I find particularly vivid, from sources … Continue reading →

First, the answers to last week’s bonus questions: What verses in this (i.e., last week’s) haftarah from Jeremiah appear in the liturgy, and where do they appear? Jeremiah 2:2 has become part of the Rosh Hashanah liturgy, one of the … Continue reading →

Not feeling adequately up to par today to think, so the comments are from 2013, lightly edited. We are basically in tying up loose ends mode. The latest plague is stayed, the Israelites are saved, and Pinchas is explicitly rewarded … Continue reading →

This is a very odd Torah portion. It’s one of a handful named for a non-Israelite and its featured character is another non-Israelite. The Israelites do not appear until the last nine verses, (spoiler alert) which relate an episode of … Continue reading →